DUer Ava and the pagan Watch

[Der Blaue Engel]

I posted this in GD, but I figured it might be of interest to this group:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1752742&mesg_id=1752742

BTW, if you've never heard of the Watch, you should check it out:

http://thewatch.pagancentric.org/

[icymist]

1. Thank you Blue Angel.

I'll be bookmarking The Watch.


Found this article there:
(scroll down)
<snip>
Fallen Soldier Gets a Bronze Star but No Pagan Star

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 4, 2006

At the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the small town of Fernley, Nev., there is a wall of brass plaques for local heroes. But one space is blank. There is no memorial for Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart.

That's because Stewart was a Wiccan, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has refused to allow a symbol of the Wicca religion -- a five-pointed star within a circle, called a pentacle -- to be inscribed on U.S. military memorials or grave markers.

The department has approved the symbols of 38 other faiths; about half of are versions of the Christian cross. It also allows the Jewish Star of David, the Muslim crescent, the Buddhist wheel, the Mormon angel, the nine-pointed star of Bahai and something that looks like an atomic symbol for atheists.

Stewart, 34, is believed to be the first Wiccan killed in combat. He was serving in the Nevada National Guard when the helicopter in which he was riding was shot down in Afghanistan last September. He previously had served in the Army in Korea and Operation Desert Storm. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

Thanks again for the link!

:hi: